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Hi Temporal!
Please find below relevant markets for both songs. Most missing ones are calculated with formulas as per the market share / weight of ringtones on their year of exploitation.
Stronger:
4975 US DLs
650k SK DLs
500k UK DLs
450k US RTs
250k CA DLs
215k OZ DLs
150k JP DLs+RTs
100k GE DLs
45k FR DLs
Because of You
2900k SK DLs
2100k US DLs
550k US RTs
325k UK DLs
200k JP DLs+RTs
150k CA DLs
125k GE DLs
45k FR DLs
I'm not sure she took risks too soon. I mean, take a look at Pink when she released "Try This". It was also a major drop in sales compared to "Missundaztood". But when she released "I'm Not Dead" back in 2006, she was able to increase her sales by a great margin compared to "Try This", and from then on she was able to stabilize her sales and even up her game with "Funhouse". Of course there wasn't a smash like her sophomore, but the market was already dropping in sales, so it was a general problem. Anyway, she kept her sales very strong for 3 consecutive albums from 2006 to 2012. What's surprising is that they all span a considerable amount of time. So, if we take into consideration Pink's case, the laid-back, not commercial Era wouldn't have been enough to damage Kelly's sales. I know, apples and oranges, but at least my comparison makes sense. Would've Kelly sold more had she released a more straightforward pop record? Probably. But I have another question: Had the label promoted the album properly, wouldn't have "My December" sold considerably more than it did? Look, the album started just fine in its first week (Probably more than "Breakaway" started) and the first single charted decently. It was a matter of staying power and for that I think it was because it wasn't properly promoted. Who knows? Maybe the album was just not meant to sell too much. But, as I said, it started off decently, so perhaps it was an indication of potential in sales. In the end, I think Kelly did what she had to do. She made her choice and that's what satisfied her artistically and I applaud her for that. In fact, I'm glad she did exactly what she did, 'cause I still think "My December" is still her best work to date (contrary to popular belief). Her true gems are in that album. As far as pop music is concerned I'd go as far as to say "Sober", "Maybe" and "Irvine" are masterpieces. Do you know what gets me upset? Is that people in general tend to disregard "My December" simply as a flop. It's so reductive. And they go on to say that in a way that makes the album seem just bad in quality, but, as it turns out, it's quite the opposite. The quality of the album is great and just because it didn't sell as expected, it doesn't mean it was bad. An album not 'selling well" doesn't say anything about its quality. "Breakaway" was a huge hit, but "My December" is better in terms of artistic integrity and quality. You know what, I actually think "My December" should've been a step to a more mature sound and that's what I thought at the time. I remember when she dropped out "My Life Would Suck Without You" (her most overrated song ever) and I thought it was disappointing after what she had done previously. In fact I think she played it safe with both "All I Ever Wanted" and "Stronger". I'm sorry to say this, but those two albums are two of her worse. She released the Christmas record after "Stronger", which definitely compensated for two back-to-back not so good releases, even though it wasn't actually a studio album of originals. Then she came back with "Piece By Piece", which I think is way better than "All I Ever Wanted" and "Stronger" put together. After that she changed labels and now she seems to be going a different route. Right now I don't think she should be aiming for commercial success. She's already established herself as a landmark of her time and is still relevant today. She might not sell as much as she did once, but I think she's having a good shot through a different platform nowadays apart from music. People are starting to notice she has great potential for television and as an entertainer. Who knows what the future holds? She's already solidified her music career and that's why she can do anything she wants at this stage in her life. That's proof of her success. 😉
I'm not sure whether the new songs you mentioned are related to the album "Meaning of Life." But this is, honestly, one of the best album that comes from Kelly.
You forgot the she is the most successful singer to come from an idol contest of all times.
You say she is unknown in relevant markets, but everyone knows who she is.
She is much more well known than Carrie Underwood who has sold nothing outside of North America.
I'm not even from the Western Hemisphere and I've known Kelly Clarkson since I was born
I would actually disagree with you, and most critics (even when My December came out) agreed that it was a logical step at the time. My December is one of her most beloved albums among fans and most enduring whole albums. There was never a possibility for her to reach Breakaway heights. Hell, Breakaway wouldn't have been what it was without Disney. The biggest issue with My December that carried into All I Ever Wanted was Clive being unprofessional and deciding because Kelly couldn't be controlled and actually wanted to be an artist he would put out a bunch of negativity. She is not unique. Every artist argues and pushes back on the label, but for the label to purposefully torch an artist is callous and uncalled for - also a really weird business decision.
It's also interesting that Dr. Luke was called out as a hit maker and basically acting like Kelly was dumb for not wanting to work with him, without all of the context that surrounds him professionally across numerous artists. It was the literal 1 request she had. There are plenty more hit makers besides him and that was just the label shivving Kelly for not "being a good little doll."
One of the things that wasn't discussed is that by the time this article was written, she was the only American Idol to cross 100 #1s worldwide. And even right now, she is STILL the only American Idol to do it. She is far and away the most successful person to come from AI or the shows that followed. Kelly is the back from which all of those artists stand on and that is not a small feat.
I get that there is a lot of emphasis put on album sales, but I think there is a lot of additional context that gets lost as well by not zooming out in the full picture. If you go look at polls of recognition and popularity, Kelly sits extremely high and has only improved with her talk show.
Subjectively, she is the best vocalist that's debuted in 25 years. Objectively, she's one of the best.
Also, question - wondering what the discrepancy in numbers is. As from about 2017/2018 it's always been cited she sold 25mill+ albums but you have only 22m?
could you update this to show the streaming numbers of her new album chemistry please? I understand a full discography update is time consuming and kelly isnt a super high priority, but I love checking the autoupdate numbers as they come in.
it seems that breakaway is her only true "Pop star" album. aside from that' she gpt some albums that sold nicley, but nothing come close to it. her streaming also tells the same - about 55-60% of her Total Streams are from Breakaway - and that will keep her like a one album kind. not exactly one hit wonder - because Stronger is decent, but very close to it . she just kept being famous, and Stronger and My life would suck without you are hits, but intersting to see how breakaway is 3 levels beyond everything.
Similar to Born To die for lana del rey, just that in recent years all the albums of ana gets heavy streams, so she got many multi million albums.
kellyws albums like piece by piece , my december and even All ive ever wanted are totally forgoten (not to mention Meaning of life and chemistry which are legit Legacy albums like Caution of Mariah or Liberation for christina)
